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Most of South Africa is in the midst of a hopeless drought. The effects of the drought are going to be felt more severely than any before us. We have no more dams to build in any more rivers and any thought of raising the wall level of Voëlvlei (Cape Town’s second biggest supply dam) is laughable as the dam seldom fills, and this year did not get above 50% of capacity. Dam levels are dire. Drought is predicted for the next season into 2016. Energy supply will prevent any […]

The City of Cape Town would like to inform all customers that there has been lower than average rainfall and run-off in the catchment areas of the major dams supplying Cape Town and the surrounding region with water this winter. As a result, the levels of the major dams of the Western Cape Water Supply System (WCWSS) are lower than the City is comfortable with as we come to the end of the rainy winter season. The six major dams of the WCWSS are currently at about 74% capacity which, […]

SA’s water crisis has already begun, with “water shedding” taking place in parts of KwaZulu-Natal as a result of drought, Wiero Vogelzang, MD of engineering consultants GIBB, said on Friday. SA’s water shortages would not be as immediately visible as the load shedding arising from electricity shortages, he said. Rather, a water crisis would creep up gradually and by the time the dams were dry it would be too late. The problem will slowly become evident as water quality deteriorates, eventually leading to outbreaks of sickness, with rural areas sooner […]

Sunday was the first day that water rationing kicked in at a number of municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal in a bid to conserve water resources in the province. The drought is the worst that has been experienced by the province since 1992, Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube said. Dube-Ncube last week warned that the province was suffering water shortages and that mandatory water conservation measures would have to be implemented. eThekwini Municipality (Durban and surrounds); Ilembe (Stanger, Ballito, Ndwedwe); uThungulu (Richards Bay, uMfolozi) and Mtubatuba will be most […]

[From BD Live May 5 2015]WHILE load-shedding continues, there is an even more worrying prospect ahead: water-shedding. Like the energy crisis, the abysmal state of water in SA is a combination of at least three factors: resource depletion (and contamination), growing demand and inefficient infrastructure. Rainfall levels are dropping quickly due to climate change. A recent study published by the World Economic Forum says droughts this century will become more recurrent and severe than in the previous millennium. We feel that already. Over the summer holidays, for instance, eThekwini municipality […]

The Western Cape is in drought. Dam levels are falling. One dam – Clan William is down to silt level, and will not deliver any more water this winter for the citrus fruits in the valley, the very period when citrus ripens. The five major supply dams to Cape Town are perilously low for a time of the year when these levels should have started rising. The authorities including the Department of Water Affairs and the Cape Town Municipality are predictably silent on the water shortage / drought issue. That […]